As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,834, issued June 19, 1973, in the names of Kent Woonton et al., foundry mold parts are produced at a high production rate by forming a continuous bed of a curable foundry sand mix, advancing the bed to a pressing station, forming the mold part by a pressing operation, and then curing the pressed mold part. Using a sand mix which retains adequate plastic flowability to be pressed over the time required to advance the bed to the pressing station, the method has heretofore required that the pressed mold part be moved away from the pressing station before being cured. The mold part is severed from the bed by the pressing operation and, for example, can be advanced to a curing station by the same mechanism employed to advance the bed of sand mix to the pressing station. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,250, issued Mar. 12, 1974, in the names of Kent Woonton et al., it is advantageous to employ an endless conveyor belt to carry the bed of sand mix to the pressing station and to carry the pressed mold parts to the curing station.
While the method just referred to represents a substantial advance in the art, room for improvement has remained. Thus, the requirement for a separate curing station has tended to increase the overall apparatus cost and complexity, particularly when the nature of the curing operation is such that mechanical movements at the curing station must be coordinated in precisely timed relation to mechanical movements at the pressing station. Also, when the foundry sand mix is one which is cured by a gaseous curing agent, provision of a separate curing station tends to require use of relatively large volumes of the curing gas. Another difficulty which must be faced when the mold part is cured in a location separate from the pressing station is that the pressed but as yet not fully cured mold part must be moved without damaging the mold part, a requirement which dictates a relatively expensive support structure as well as, in some cases, a slower cycle time.